Question mark hovers over hit movie

Small screen, big ideas

Where are we going, dad?

Top 10 box office hits in 2013

Beijing-based film critic Tan Fei said the film should be accepted as a special case.

"In the eyes of many people, especially professional people, it's not a film. But we have to admit that it's commercially very successful," said Tan, who is also the president of a culture and media company in Beijing.

"We also have to realize that the film has special reasons for its success: it has a feel-good atmosphere and it was shown at the right time - Spring Festival. It is suitable for the holiday and the theme of parents and children attracted many families," he said.

"Besides, the film industry is undergoing great changes, from the needs of the audience to the ecosystem within the industry itself. So there's no need to put an emphasis on whether it's a film or not as the definition is not fixed," Tan added.

Luo Shasha, a documentary director in Beijing said: "In my opinion, it's not a film, so we can't judge it by the criteria of evaluating a film. For me, it's more like a reality show program displayed on the big screen, using elements of a documentary, and you know that real occurrences are usually very touching. That's why both the program and the 'film' can attract audiences."

For the first time, two domestic movies have had box-office revenue of more than 560 million yuan in the first three days of the lunar new year.

The 3D film The Monkey King saw 310 million yuan in revenue and Where Are We Going, Dad? earned 251 million yuan. Box-office sales across China during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday are expected to pass last year's record of 755 million yuan.